During medical procedures, guidewires are routinely subjected to various mechanical stresses and/or aqueous fluid while positioned within the vasculature of a patient. For example, when the guidewire is constrained inside a tortuous blood vessel, the distal portion of the guidewire may bend, thus inducing an in-plane bending stress on the guidewire. In some instances in which the distal portion of the guidewire remains in the tortuous blood vessel, the guidewire may experience cyclic stresses. These cyclic stresses may, for example, have a frequency equal to the heart beat rate of the patient. The generated cyclic stresses may lead to crack initiation at the surface of the guidewire and subsequent crack propagation. Thus, the cyclic stresses experienced by the guidewire may diminish the fatigue life of the guidewire, resulting in premature fatigue failure of the guidewire. Exposure of the guidewire to aqueous fluids may additionally accelerate fatigue failure of the guidewire.